


Heat Wave

by flowersheep



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: F/M, Solarpunk
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-21
Updated: 2014-10-21
Packaged: 2018-02-22 00:21:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,061
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2487560
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/flowersheep/pseuds/flowersheep
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Camelot's latest heat wave isn't doing much to encourage Merlin's productivity.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Heat Wave

The whir of the fan usually went unnoticed but today it was all he could hear. It wasn't even noon yet, but he'd already stripped down to his pants and even that wasn't enough to keep the heat at bay, even with the old electric fan on full blast. He was drenched in sweat. If he sat up there would undoubtedly be a wet imprint of his back on the sheets. At some point he had to get up and water the balcony garden or it would wither and die. Of all the times for the air conditioning to break in their building why did it have to be during the week they were having record breaking temperature highs?

Eventually, Merlin pulled himself up. The heat made him lethargic. For a moment he sat on the bed and stared at his trousers, trying to convince himself that he should put them on before going out on the balcony where anyone could see him. He should do it, but he didn't want to. It took work and just the thought of encasing his legs in even the lightest material made him grimace. He wondered how Freya was handling the heat at work. At least she could take breaks in an air conditioned building. 

Merlin stepped out onto the balcony in nothing but his pants. The fear of someone seeing him half naked while he watered his garden didn't even hold a candle to the discomfort of wearing trousers in this weather. As he grabbed the hose Merlin considered turning it on himself first. But the city was already teetering on the edge of a drought that summer. There were negotiations with neighboring cities to share any extra water they had, but it was still necessary to conserve what they could. Merlin uncoiled the hose, checked the nozzle was on the right setting, and set to watering. His bare feet dragged on the soil as he moved from plant to plant. It was cool and felt nice against his skin, even better when the cold water turned it to mud.

When he was done Merlin dropped the hose and stared helplessly at it for a moment. He really didn't have the energy to coil it up again. Thankfully, he had a solution. With a flash of gold in his eyes and a flick of his wrist the hose coiled itself back up neatly. Smiling, Merlin went back inside, being sure to wipe as much of the mud on his feet as he could on the mat by the door before tumbling onto the couch. 

Magic was such a life saver. It was how Freya was so successful with her beekeeping duties and how Merlin could keep their garden green and healthy in the hot summer on the verge of a water crisis. It was the ultimate multitasking tool, allowing Merlin to clean dishes while folding laundry and fixing their cheap solar panels for the five millionth time. It meant he and Freya didn't have to give up cuddling if one of them left the remote out of reach. Magic had an infinite amount of everyday uses and these days Merlin thanked his lucky stars that it was a gift he possessed in large quantities. Of course, he hadn't always thought that way. There'd been a time when Merlin would've given anything to be normal. A time long gone, thankfully. And really, there was no use dwelling on that sort of thing. Merlin had made a pact that he would leave the past in the past. 

He napped for a bit. It was hard not to in the sweltering heat. Merlin startled from his doze when the front door of the flat opened. He rubbed the sleep from his eyes and orientated himself in the waking present just in time to watch as Freya stripped off her tank top, then her bra, then her shorts.

"It's way too fucking hot," she muttered. "I don't even know if I want to sleep in the same bed as you again. Last night was awful."

"That's okay. I'm not sure I can move from the couch anyway," Merlin said. 

"Someday we'll move into a better district with reliable air conditioning, a sprinkler system for the garden, and decent solar panels," Freya declared, sprawling out on the floor directly in front of the fan. "Which is causing our problem, by the way? Is it the unreliable air conditioning or the shitty solar panels?"

"Air conditioning," Merlin said. "Everything else's still got power." 

"Right. They gonna fix it anytime soon?"

"If they don't I will."

"I thought you couldn't move from the couch."

"I'll float myself down there with magic."

"Maybe I could use magic to cool our flat."

"No. You tried that, remember? It snowed in here for four days before we figured out how to undo it."

"I would rather be stuck in an indoor blizzard than an indoor furnace." Slowly, Freya pulled herself upright, her hair catching in the breeze of the fan. She absently pushed it aside. "Let's go somewhere tonight."

"Where?"

"The theater." 

Merlin frowned at her. "Aren't you the one always saying we don't have enough money for stuff like that? Especially if we're aiming to move to a better district."

"Well, sometimes we deserve to treat ourselves," Freya said decisively. "And the theater has air conditioning."

"I'm sold," Merlin said. Yeah, maybe it would set them back a bit to spend money on expensive theater tickets, but it was hard to really care when there was the promise of air conditioning on full blast for a few glorious hours. "What's playing tonight?"

"No idea." Freya slowly crawled over to her shorts and pried her phone out of the pocket. She spent a few minutes flicking through menus, then scrolling through web pages. "Um, it's Shakespeare. Much Ado About Nothing." 

"Sounds good."

"Think you can get off the couch in time to put some clothes on?"

"I'll manage it."

Freya reached over and patted his leg, distracted mid-pat when she yawned. "I'm sure you will, babe." She rested her head against his leg, hair tickling his skin. Merlin kind of wanted to run his fingers through her hair, but that would mean sitting up and he didn't think he was capable of that right now. This heat wave really needed to end already.


End file.
